File: A photo of an Apple store.
Getty ImagesA man was arrested on suspicion of stealing 50 iPhones from an East Bay Apple Store, police said.
The viral video apparently showing the theft, which has circulated on multiple social media platforms this week, shows a masked man forcefully taking iPhones off their display chargers. As multiple alarms sound and customers and employees watch in the background, he puts them in his pants and leaves the store.
In the video, which the Emeryville Police Department said began to circulate on social media on Tuesday, the man also passes a police car as he exits the store. Police confirmed that the car was an Emeryville Police Department vehicle but said it was unoccupied at the time of the theft.
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Emeryville Police received a call on Monday just before 10:30 a.m. about the theft at the store, the police department said. The Emeryville Apple Store is at 5640 Bay St. The man fled in a vehicle with 50 iPhones valued at $49,230 before police arrived, according to a department Facebook post.
Apple did not respond to SFGATE’s request for comment.
This is the fourth instance of grand theft reported at the Emeryville Apple Store since Jan. 19, the police statement said. Detectives “working with other law enforcement agencies” and determined that they were organized retail crimes, it said.
A joint operation between Emeryville and Berkeley police departments and the California Highway Patrol arrested three people on Wednesday night in connection with a theft from a Berkeley Apple Store that took place that morning. In its Facebook post, the Emeryville Police Department said one of those arrested was the suspect seen in the Emeryville video.
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The police statement also said one of the suspects, a 22-year-old Berkeley resident, was detained on suspicion of being involved in multiple Apple Store thefts. The department did not respond to SFGATE’s question as to whether the 22-year-old was the same man shown in the video.
The suspect was booked in the Santa Rita Jail and faces multiple counts of burglary and grand theft, among other various charges, according to jail records.
The Emeryville Police Department said the Apple Store theft in Emeryville is still an active investigation and anyone with information is urged to contact the department at (510) 596-3700 or email at investigations@emeryville.org.